- Week 3 -

Dr. Rodney McKay was now conspicuously difficult to find during his off hours, including meal times. He was sweeping into the mess hall and back out with a sandwich so quickly and quietly that it was easy for even the kitchen staff to miss that he had been there at all. A sign that read 'Do Not Disturb' had become a permanent fixture outside his private lab. And his hours working around the city and the public labs were spent working at a feverish pace.

Naturally, everyone realized that he was burying himself in work because of his dislike of Christmas. Of course, when asked he would claim that he was picking up the slack for all those who had been attending festivities. In return, the many in the science department had put up pictures of McKay on their lap-tops, edited to look like The Grinch.

In the science departments defence, however, they had elected not to play their Christmas music whenever McKay was in the labs, to make up for the two weeks of jingling bell torture they'd put him through.

On this particular day Kate Heightmeyer, Katie Brown, and few other women, were in the gate room, decorating one the Christmas Tree's the marine's had brought back. Careful planning had gone into the colour co-ordination and design on the decorations. It had gold trim with an earthy trim, dark and light blue baubles and pink bows. All were carefully spaced so as not to overwhelm. They had just finished and were standing back to try and decide if everything was properly balanced. It wouldn't do to have more decorations on one side than the other.

"What do you think?" Kate asked the group.

Katie tilted he head thoughtfully at the tree, "I think it's time to ask one of the men what they think."

Miko glanced at the marines on guard, who seemed to be trying very hard to be unnoticeable. "I think perhaps that they would not give us an honest opinion. They would wish to be polite."

"That one wouldn't," a female marine pointed as McKay strode through the gate room, clearly cutting across on his way to somewhere else with a packed lunch in hand.

"Good idea! Put it to the Grinch test!" Dumais giggled.

"Quick, catch him!" Another woman hissed urgently.

It was Kate who jogged into his way and called out to him, "Dr. McKay. What's your hurry?"

He looked at her with the slightly dazed look that all the scientists got when they're been pulled from deep in thought, "Hurry? Oh… I was just, um, working."

"Do you have a moment to critique our tree?" Kate asked with a bat of her eyes and a smile. It usually set men at ease so that they would talk to her and answer any question.

But Rodney McKay floundered and stuttered, "M-me? You want me to critique…" He leaned to peek around her and his eyes popped wide at the gaggle of women gathered around the newly decorated tree, and he pointed at it. "That's a tree."

"Yes," Kate sighed, "That's a tree. And we would like your honest opinion of it."

His honest opinion? "It's uh… um…" Rodney looked at it and searched for the right words. It was aesthetically pleasing. Actually, it was a little too aesthetically pleasing. It was like the Christmas trees he'd always had as a child, his mother having hired professional designers to do all their holiday decorating. He'd never really liked it then either. It just seemed to like it would be more fun to pick out a bunch of red and green and clashing decorations and throw them on the tree like a normal family. But he had enough sense to know that was not the right answer now, "well… uh…"

"Relax!" Kate put a hand on his shoulder and nudged him closer to the tree, "It's a Christmas tree, not an ink blot test. I promise not to analyze your answer."

Rodney smirked nervously, "So… if I told you it makes me think of my mother…?

"Rodney!" Several female voices scolded.

"Ok! It's um…" he looked at the careful balance and spacing, "It makes me think of… Feng Shui?"

Half a dozen faces lit up with smiles.

"Very insightful!" Kate admonished, "The design is inspired by a Feng Shui Christmas book that Dr. Kusinagi has."

Rodney blinked at her, not quite certain he had actually heard her or was having an insane auditory hallucination induced by stress, "Feng Shui…. Christmas?"

Kate nodded, "It's amazing the effect colour balances can have on the mind. We're going for calming, but happy. How does it make you feel?"

"Afraid," Rodney blurted and winced.

"Afraid?" Kate repeated. All the women looked at him in confusion.

"Afraid I have to go now," Rodney quickly covered. "I just realized I left a very sensitive experiment running unattended; hence the packed lunch."

He rambled all this out even as he darted backwards out of his room, then turned on his heel and all but ran.

"Well!" Dumais grinned, "The Grinch didn't complain about it so it must be good."

Nearby, the two soldiers on guard duty watched in sympathy. One whispered quietly for the other, "I'm afraid too."

"What do you two think?" Dumais called over to the two soldiers.

They exchanged a look of alarm before quickly answering the first things that came to mind.

"Great!"

"Very Feng Shui!"

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Rodney retreated from the 'Pink Tree of Emotional Balance' with such haste that he nearly plowed over Teyla. Fortunately, she dodged out of the way as well as stopped him from falling.

"Dr. McKay!" Teyla exclaimed when they were both comfortably and steadily upright, "Is there an emergency?"

"Not at all," Rodney blushed and straightened his science uniform, "I'm just running a little behind schedule."

A knowing twinkle lit Teyla's eyes, "Ah. Then it had nothing to do with the large group of women decorating a Christmas Tree in the gate room?"

The blush deepened in answer and he attempted to cover with a confident lecturing tone, "Ah, you've been introduced to the tradition of tree decorating then?"

"Yes." Teyla answered with amusement she forced herself to subdue, for the sake of the scientist's pride, "Major Sheppard informed me of it after the women asked him to help choose what colour coordination they should choose. He too fled in haste."

"He did?" Rodney asked in a pleased tone that held a little more actual confidence. "Of course, who wouldn't?"

"You might be interested to know that this morning's trade mission went extremely well. Far better than anticipated." Teyla adjusted the heavy pack on her shoulders meaningfully.

"Oh!" Rodney exclaimed in a conspicuously hushed voice, then looked around to see who was near. He then motioned for her to follow him into a tranporter. Teyla sincerely hoped they never found themselves on a mission where there lives depended on the scientist being inconspicuous.

Once they were alone Teyla spoke freely, "It will take a few days to prepare all that has been promised and bring it back to Atlantis, but the initial shipment has been generous. I brought samples of the herbs so that you can continue your experiments, as it will take the bulk you have requested will take the most time for the villagers to gather and prepare. Have your attempts thus far been successful?"

"It's improving. But I haven't quite mastered the method." The scientist admitted with a hint of defeat.

Teyla breathed in the pleasant smells that filled this corridor and grew stronger the closer they came to Dr. McKay's secret lab. It didn't smell like he was failing. "What is the method? Perhaps I can assist."

"That's part of the problem. I have no idea. But, I'm sure I'll figure it out." He lifted his chin and grinned smugly, "After-all, I am a genius."

"Then I am sure it will continue to improve." Teyla offered encouragingly. "And what of your machine?"

"That was easy." Rodney waved his hand dismissively at the solved problem, "Want to be my taste tester?"

Teyla bowed her head, "I would be happy to."

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Elizabeth looked out the window of her office and smiled at the Christmas tree. The ladies that took on the job of decorating it had certainly taken the task very seriously. Observing the men avoid the entire area had been an amusing distraction for the morning. It was just Rodney's luck that he would be one of those to get caught by the ladies while passing innocently through the room.

She felt a sharp twinge of home-sickness as she imagined how Simon would react to the entire scenario. But the edge was taken off of it when she looked saw how much fun the girls were having.

That was the idea behind all this. Every evening this month, and most meal breaks, had one or two activities that everyone could join in on so that nobody had to be alone or had time to dwell too long about how away earth was.

The events would culminate with a celebration on Christmas Day, which the Athosian's and some other allies would be joining them for. There would be entertainment, and some refreshments. The Athosian's were putting together a display of dance and festivities associated with their most joyous celebrations, and in return Elizabeth had promised a similar cultural exchanged. The intention was to mend some of the barriers that had risen after the recent falling out, and the Athosian's subsequent move to the mainland. She had to admit, that she was a bit nervous that the variety presentation she was organizing wouldn't meet up to the Athosian's expectations.

Elizabeth wished, not for the first time, that they had a proper feast to offer. But between avoiding the Wraith and exploring the power sources, the food trade just hadn't been going well enough lately. Reconstituted Turkey military rations would have to do. But the most important thing was that they would be celebrating together.

The only problem was that one man had chosen to be alone anyway, even more than he usually was. People had started to worry about him and wonder if perhaps he was lonely at all, wherever he was, and that in turn would remind them of their own loneliness for home. The total absence of Christmas music in the labs, though self imposed, couldn't be helping either.

That's why she'd called and asked him to join her right after lunch. She was watching his usual entrance point from the direction of the labs when he surprised her by stepping out of a transporter on the far upper level. He circled close to the wall and took the stairs towards her office quickly. Of course, she realized with an amused grin, he was avoiding the tree zone.

She opened the door so he could stealthily sweep into the room, "Thank you for coming. Have a seat." Elizabeth waited until he was comfortably seated before beginning, "I'm concerned that you've seemed a little isolated. Well, more than a little really."

"I may have been a bit busier than usual," Rodney admitted.

Elizabeth regarded him blandly, "You're working yourself into the ground. You can't possibly keep up this pace. And at this time of year you shouldn't be trying. We're not in the middle of a crisis right now."

Rodney gawked at her a moment, "Not in a crisis? Elizabeth, we're stranded in a foreign galaxy with life sucking aliens!"

Elizabeth sighed. He could be so very pedantic. "And we're still dealing with that, every day. But you can't possible expect everyone to work every waking hour of every day. We would burn out. Our people need down time. And this time of year more than ever they need a boost of morale. I know you can understand that."

Rodney frowned in mild frustration. When had the conversation turned to the rest of the expedition? "Of course I don't expect the expedition to work every hour of every day. But we're not talking about them."

"No, we're talking about you." Elizabeth agreed, "Why do you think you're any less likely to burn out or are any less deserving of some down time? I understand that not everybody celebrates Christmas, but we're all a long way from home. A lot of people are feeling very home sick now. As a leader you need to help set a good example and boost morale. I don't think it's asking too much for you to lose the 'Do Not Disturb' sign and stay in the commissary long enough to eat a proper meal. And you could stop working through ALL your evenings and have a little fun? You deserve it."

Darn, he was being talked into corners by a galaxy class negotiator. There should be rules about who she could use that power on. "It's not a question of what I deserve, Elizabeth. I'm just…"

"Hiding from Christmas?" Elizabeth finished for him.

"I am NOT hiding from Christmas," Rodney quickly protested.

Elizabeth regarded him disbelieving, "Then you're not the man that I heard was driven to his private lab by jingling bells and then made silencers for each of them?"

Rodney groaned and threw up his hands, "They were distracting!"

She continued light-heartedly, "You aren't the man I saw fleeing from a Christmas tree this morning?"

"Sheppard ran too!" Rodney pointed petulantly in the general direction of the military wing.

"And you don't think the Christmas lights were a waste of space?" Elizabeth added to the list.

Rodney sighed dejectedly, "Logistically speaking, yes, I think perhaps more vital equipment could have taken the place of the pretty blinking lights."

Elizabeth prepared the final blow, "And it isn't for your benefit that there's been no Christmas music in the labs for this past week?"

"Aha!" Rodney snapped his fingers and pointed at himself, "I like Christmas music, well… some of it anyway."

Now Elizabeth really was surprised, "You like Christmas music?" She narrowed her eyes scrupulously, "What's your favourite carol?"

"Shchedryk, by Mykola Dmytrovh Leontrovych," Rodney quickly rattled off.

Elizabeth could imagine the expression on Dr. Zelenka's face had he heard that. "Carol of the Bells. That's one of my favourites too. Are there any others you particularly like?"

Rodney shrugged, "Twelve Days of Christmas."

This was turning into a rather revealing meeting, "I never would have figured you for the partridge in a pear tree type."

Rodney's head took on an arrogant tilt, but the quickly tapping fingers had his side gave away his nervousness at the unusually conversation, "The math is… cute."

"Cute math?" Elizabeth repeated questioningly.

Rodney's eyes actually lit up as he explained, "If you add up all the gifts given in the song it comes to 364, the days in a year. The equation best used to calculate, when graphed out, is a bell. Oh, and on Pascal's Triangle of binomial coefficients it's shaped like a stocking."

Elizabeth smiled and responded diplomatically, "I had no idea."

Rodney clucked his tongue thoughtfully, "Ya, not many people do. It's weird, isn't it? I mean, at a glance it's so obvious."

Discussing the definition of obvious would have been counter productive at this point. So Elizabeth acquiesced, "I guess it's just one of those mysteries. But since you seem to like music I'm sure that Carson will be thrilled to see you when his Choir rehearsals begin on Monday."

The scientists eyes shot wide open, "W-what? Wait! When did?"

"It's for the Christmas variety show. The practice is in the evenings, at 7:00. Be there." Elizabeth ordered in a tone that brooked no argument. "And remember, no more sign!"